Dusty Johnson: “our support of childcare assistance is essential to ensuring the health and safety of children in working families.…”

“our support of childcare assistance is essential to ensuring the health and safety of children in working families. Without greater support for childcare, parents of young children may be forced to choose cheaper, poor quality care for their children or fail to provide it entirely. These families need to know their children are cared for while the parents do their part to attain self-sufficiency and to provide for their families. At 73 percent, my State of South Dakota has the highest percentage of children six years of age and younger with both parents working and the highest number of children under the age of 6 in paid daycare, at 47 percent. This is almost double the national average of 24 percent. On average, 1 year of childcare costs families in South Dakota $4,000. This estimate is close to a semester of college at a State institution. A study done by the South Dakota Coalition for Children found that parents seek a safe, nurturing environment for their children when they are under someone else's care. As more and more families need both parents to work in order to make ends meet, safe reliable day care has become essential to the peace of mind of working families in South Dakota and across the country. Without the increased funding for childcare that the Snowe-Dodd amendment provides, more parents will be forced to seek childcare that meets their budgets rather than their hopes for the care of their children.”